You're a good friend, Arthur

A couple days after the announcement that Stargate Atlantis will not be renewed for a sixth season, we get an episode of such unbelievable awesomeness that the fangirl in me very nearly exploded (hence taking time out of my busy DragonCon preparations to spew about it).

McKay is infected with a parasite that slowly but surely neutralizes his brain functions. His personality goes, along with his memory, his intelligence and everything about him that makes him McKay. It's never stated outright (in this episode, at least) that Rodney's usually clumsy and abrasive with women, but I really like that Keller realized Rodney being charming and pleasant was in fact an early symptom of his ailment. So, Rodney turns stupid and nice, his team cranks up their protectiveness to eleven, and high-tension wackiness ensues.

While Keller's medicine doesn't have a solution for Rodney's affliction, Ronon knows of a shrine where others suffering with the same parasite can be "cured" for a day, right before they die. Also, it's on the same planet as a bunch of Wraith. Team Sheppard doesn't have to think twice.

"The Shrine" is, without a doubt, the best team episode ever. Ronon - Ronon! - tells Jeanie about the shrine, he fights the strongest for making the trip during the meeting with Woolsey, he makes it crystal clear that he will go into any situation and do everything he possibly can to save McKay, and that Woolsey and Keller should step up and do the same. Of course, Sheppard and Teyla back him entirely. Then there's Jeanie, who it's always delightful to see. She and Rodney together are simply terrific. And on top of all the very excellent team adventuring and bonding, this ep is also thick with slash. The McKay/Sheppard moments were phenomenal, and even removing my dirty slash goggles, this ep did a wonderful job showing the depth of their friendship.

I gaped at the scene on the flooded planet, where we got an amazing, expansive view of the team's situation, as the four of them perched atop the stargate in the middle of a lake. And, holy crap, John and Rodney on the pier. I suspect I'll probably watch that scene until I'm reciting it in my sleep. Then there was the radioactive shrine and poking a hole in Rodney's very valuable head with a power drill. How cool was that?

The only thing that keeps this from being the Very Best Episode Ever is the incredibly bad ending. If McKay had told Keller he'd started to care for her, wanted to date her, thought that maybe she wasn't so bad despite her voodoo profession, it would have seemed so reasonable and in-character. But that he loves her? What? That's just too hard to swallow. It felt like the person who wrote the first 42 minutes skipped out on the last 60 seconds and left it for the janitor to finish. And the janitor was wacky on the junk. As well as being a 12-year-old girl. Just, no.

Well, this seems like a fine time to pile on the hurt. I'm not taking SGA's cancellation too hard - it might be my favourite show these days, but it is just a TV show. Nonetheless, I'm sad and grumpy about it, and I am not encouraged by the prospect of a direct-to-DVD SGA movie, or the planned Stargate Universe series.

Nope, not too happy about this at all.

Bah, I'm going to watch "The Shrine" again (skipping that last scene), feel stupidly gleeful about such an incredible episode, and console myself with the knowledge that the series might be ending, but I will have this gem to watch over and over and over again.